


Margin of Error

by faithinthepoor



Series: Rizzoli and Isles [10]
Category: Rizzoli & Isles
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-13
Updated: 2013-01-13
Packaged: 2017-11-25 08:22:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/636952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faithinthepoor/pseuds/faithinthepoor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place following Sailor Man</p>
            </blockquote>





	Margin of Error

**Author's Note:**

> In my series this follows [Body of Evidence](http://archiveofourown.org/works/621139), [Locard’s Principle](http://archiveofourown.org/works/621144), [Sex Crimes](http://archiveofourown.org/works/621154), [Post-Mortem](http://archiveofourown.org/works/621169), [M'Naghten Rules](http://archiveofourown.org/works/622535), [Genetic Markers](http://archiveofourown.org/works/622575), [Internal Affairs](http://archiveofourown.org/works/625031), [Cause of Death](http://archiveofourown.org/works/629923) and [Following Procedure](http://archiveofourown.org/works/631546)

She has been lying awake for hours. It’s become an all too common problem for her. This is not an entirely new affliction, she has vivid memories of being unable to sleep for days after an exam because she was worried she hadn’t adequately explained the role of the pontine micturition centre, but it’s never been this persistent before. There are so many questions running through her mind. Most of these she can’t answer and, unlike the insomnia, this is something that is completely foreign and therefore overwhelming.

There is one particular question that is plaguing her this evening and it just so happens that she knows how to find the answer. With a need to preserve her sanity in mind she picks up her phone.

“Maura it’s three in the morning. Don’t you ever sleep?”

“You should be used to calls at strange times. You don’t have a job that is sympathetic to the demands of the Circadian rhythm.”

“Oh God. Did I miss a call to a crime scene? Where are you?”

“I’m at home.”

“Is there a dead body there?”

“Not that I’m aware of.”

“If you don’t get off the phone there is about to be.” 

“You wouldn’t really kill me. You’re far too good a person for that and you really hate paper work.”

“I don’t think you should keep testing me because I might just snap one day,” Jane says with a sigh. “So how can I help you Maura?”

“If I got you fettuccine with baby tomatoes in it would you complain?”

“Are you drunk?” 

“Of course not. I rarely exceed the recommended daily maximum alcohol intake and I certainly haven’t today.”

“Are you high?”

“Why in the world would you think that? Whilst I have to admit that some of the published results on the effects of certain psychedelic substances are intellectually stimulating there is insufficient evidence to exclude the possibility that they can cause irreversible brain damage. I don’t think curiosity is worth the potential risk.”

“I’m sorry Dr Genius but I think it’s way too late to be worrying about possible brain damage. You are calling me in the middle of the night to ask about what vegetables I will eat on pasta, I may not be an expert but I’m fairly certain that you have gone nuts.”

“Fruit.”

“Now you are actually starting to frighten me.”

“I was just correcting you. I called up to ask about fruit preferences. Tomatoes are fruits.”

“Oh well that makes it all ok then.”

“So will you now kindly answer my question?”

“I don’t know where you would have got the notion that I am a fussy eater. I would be willing to eat almost anything you got for me so long as you hadn’t been storing it in your death fridge.”

“I keep telling you that you have nothing to worry about. If anything my specimens risk contamination from the food.”

“I’m finding it hard to feel sorry for the cut up bits of people.”

“Ultimately those so called cut up bits of people are your evidence.”

“And given your work ethic I am going to sleep soundly knowing that you would not do anything to jeopardise them.”

“And yet you somehow believe that I would give you tainted food.”

“I’m an enigma that way.” She can hear the smile in Jane’s voice.

“Giovanni showed no appreciation for my culinary selection.”

“You did mention that.”

“And yet he thought we were soul mates.”

“I not sure that thought is the right verb under the circumstances. I don’t believe Giovanni thinks all that much.”

“But what if I missed something? What if he is better at interpreting social cues than I am and saw something that I didn’t?”

“He doesn’t have your special brand of awkwardness but I am pretty sure that all he was interpreting was – woman, hot. Must have.”

“Jane he’s a Homo sapian not a Neanderthal.”

“Did you examine his brain sutures and DNA because I think he was closer to a monkey than to you.”

“There was nothing wrong with his cranial sutures. In fact he was close to perfect specimen.”

“Say want you want but I refuse to believe that he is from the same species as you.”

“Is that meant to be a compliment?”

“You know it is.”

“Don’t do that.”

“You don’t want me to say nice things to you?”

“Not right now I don’t’.”

“What have I done wrong now?” Jane’s tone is clipped.

“I’m just a little uncomfortable after the way you removed Giovanni.”

“Maura he was like a leach. Everything else had failed. I thought I was doing the right thing.”

“Did it have to be that?”

“You are uncomfortable that we lied?”

She doesn’t want to tell Jane just how much she’s been lying lately. It doesn’t sit comfortably with her but it seems to be the only option given she feels something that Jane clearly doesn’t want her to feel. The look on Jane’s face when she asked if Maura wanted to have sex with her said everything that Maura needed to know on the matter. She is going to have to start prescribing cortisone for herself in bulk because her histamine levels must be through the roof. “You know how I feel about lying. However in this case it’s the content of the lie that makes me uncomfortable.”

“I didn’t realise that you would have a problem with Giovanni thinking that you could have liked me.” If she didn’t know better Maura would think Jane sounded wounded. “You were the one who started calling me babe. Why do I feel like I am in trouble for what you started?”

“The problem isn’t that he could think that we were together, the problem is that it isn’t real.”

“Oh Maura.”

“It’s ok. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You sure it’s not why you rang?”

“I really don’t want to have this conversation, it will only upset me.”

“I thought we were doing ok.”

“Where could you possibly get the idea that I am somehow at the point where you can put your arms around me and pretend we’re a couple and not have that cause me some level of conflict?”

“I thought we’d gotten back to the point where we could be friends.”

“So you felt nothing then?” she tries to keep her voice under control and is glad that Jane isn’t able to see the tears that have formed in her eyes.

“You know I care about you.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“Then what do you mean?”

“When you held me didn’t you feel anything?”

“We shouldn’t go there.”

“So does that mean you did feel something or that you didn’t?”

“What do you think?”

“You know I won’t guess about something like that.”

“Woman most of the time you won’t guess at all. You know how frustrating I find that.”

“Don’t try to change the subject Jane. This is about what happened today.”

“Nothing happened today.”

“I see.”

“I was just trying to help. I should have been more sensitive about the way I did it. Apparently I also should have been a mind reader because every indication you gave me suggested you wanted me to go along with your plan. Clearly I was wrong.”

“I think you are in serious denial,” she is curter than she likes to be.

“And I think that means you are speculating Dr Isles.”

“I’ll tell you what I do know. I’ll tell you that I felt something. I felt very aroused, in fact I still do, and I can’t believe I could feel this way if you didn’t also feel something.”

“Maura you can not talk like that.”

“Why not?

“It’s not appropriate.”

“I don’t believe you care about niceties. I think you are uncomfortable with how I feel and how I make you feel.”

“I’ll admit that it doesn’t make me comfortable to watch you throw yourself at anything with a pulse.”

“I have needs Jane.”

“I don’t think I want to hear about those needs.”

“You threw me at him.”

“I was only trying to keep him from me.”

“Because you are so irresistible and I’m so hideous.”

“I never thought he’d be interested in you.”

“That’s not helping the situation.”

“Hey I am the one the sailor called Ma’am.”

“If you needed to feel better about yourself you could have gone after Giovanni.”

“I’m not interested in chasing after a man who can be nothing but a sex toy. Actually a sex toy would be better because you wouldn’t have to hear it say pointless things. I have no idea what you could have seen in him.”

“Well that’s not really any of you business now is it?”

“It doesn’t mean I’m ok with it.”

“And it seems I’m not ok with you holding me in your arms and then pretending it means nothing.”

“Maura you know it means something I just can’t go there.”

“Why not?”

“You know why this is a bad idea.”

“I will try and make it easy for you. I will tell you that in a few seconds from now I will be touching myself while thinking about you. You can either put your head in the sand, hang up and pretend it’s not happening or you can decide to join me. The choice is yours.”

“Don’t do this to me.”

“Don’t do what?” she asks with faux innocence as her hand slides below the elastic of her pyjama bottoms.

“Don’t tease me like this.”

“Teasing is an interesting choice of words.”

“Is it?”

“It implies there might be something to tease you with.” Her hand had crept below her underwear and her fingers danced over her slick flesh as she spoke.

“Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me?”

“I’m hoping that I have a vague idea.” She increases the pace of her fingers and lets out a small moan.

“Jesus Maura are you doing what I think you’re doing?”

“I already told you what I was going to do so unless you have some sort of amnesic syndrome you know exactly what is going on.”

“What do you want from me?”

“I want you to spread your legs and join me.”

She hears Jane hiss and fears that she will hang up but then a small voice says, “Ok.”

“Tell me what you’re doing.”

“You know what I’m doing,” Jane’s voice has turned to gravel.

“That’s not the point. I want you to tell me.”

“I really don’t want to talk about it.”

Maura doesn’t want to push things; she knows she is in delicate territory. The last thing she wants is to do something to make Jane stop. She decides to try a different tack, “I’m glad you caught that guy. I hate to think of people like him being on the street.”

“Why would you bring that up while we are doing _this_?”

“I was just trying to make conversation.”

“Maybe it’s best that we don’t talk at all.”

She tries not to take offence. For Maura things are better if she can hear Jane’s voice but it seems Jane doesn’t have the same feelings on the matter. She decides not to analyse that further and instead focuses on Jane’s breathing. Even through the phone she can tell that Jane’s respirations have become shallow. Maura notes that her own breathing pattern is something close to panting.

She moves her fingers lower and enters herself. She wishes she could tell Jane how wet Jane has made her but she doesn’t want to risk upsetting her. She also wishes that she had a spare hand because she wants to play with her nipples but she refuses to let go of the phone. 

Maura bucks her hips and then moves her hand back to her clitoris. Without thinking she let out a small cry and then says, “Jane.”

“Are you close?”

“Very,” she replies. “I want to hear you voice.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Just say my name.”

“Maura,” Jane is tentative at first but then begins to say the word with more passion and eventually adds, “I wish I could be there to see you.”

That thought alone is enough to push Maura over the edge. It seems her cries aren’t displeasing to Jane as she quickly follows suit, calling out to both Maura and God before falling silent.

“Thank you,” Maura says and feels ridiculous about how grateful she feels.

“I think there was something in there for both of us and there was not a single face lick in sight.”

She laughs but she feels very uncertain about where things will go from here. There is a real chance that she has made things much worse so she doesn’t feel that she has a lot to lose by telling Jane, “I love you.” She hangs up as soon as she makes that statement because she doesn’t want to hear Jane’s response. She knows there might be consequences for her actions but right now she feels wonderful. Her mind has stilled and she knows sleep will claim her and that for the first time in months her dreams won’t be nightmares.


End file.
